Redmayne: Deftly separating renowned physicist Stephen Hawking's breakthroughs in relativity from the man crippled by a form of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), portraying Hawking from his able-bodied college years, when he meets and falls in love with Jane Hawking (played by Felicity Jones), to his present state of almost complete paralysis.

Cumberbatch: Inhabiting the often-uncomfortable skin of brilliant, socially awkward outsider Alan Turing, who headed a secret mission to crack Nazi encryption during World War II, building the first prototype of the modern computer along the way, all while hiding his sexuality.

Cumberbatch (as Turing): Tells Joan (Keira Knightley) he never cared for her, he only needed her to help him break Enigma, ending their engagement.

STATUS UPDATE

Redmayne: Newlywed. Redmayne married publicist Hannah Bagshawe in December. He's still getting used to the word "wife," noting as he accepted acting honors at the Palm Springs International Film Festival that it "sounds very weird to say. Good weird!"

Cumberbatch: Newly engaged. Cumberbatch proposed to theater director Sophie Hunter in November, issuing a discreet, old-school announcement in the "forthcoming marriages" section of The Times of London. "It's what I would have done if I wasn't famous," he told USA TODAY.

KIDS?

Redmayne: Nope, not yet.

Cumberbatch: There's a Cumberbaby on the way. Cumberbatch confirmed the news in early January.

Redmayne: Redmayne won a Tony Award in 2010 for playing the fictional assistant to Mark Rothko (Alfred Molina) in Broadway's Red and made waves in 2012's Les Miserables as Marius, the revolutionary fighter who romanced Amanda Seyfried's Cosette. He fell for another iconic blonde as the young gofer besotted with Michelle Williams in 2011's My Week With Marilyn.

Cumberbatch: If you don't know that Cumberbatch achieved international fame-worship as the BBC's sexy, whip-smart Sherlock, well, it's time to join the revolution. "Cumberbatch wasn't an overnight star — he was one at the end of 90 minutes," wrote British GQ. On the big screen, he's been gaining traction for years in films such as 2011's War Horse and 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness. That was him, too, as a plantation owner in last year's best picture winner, 12 Years a Slave.

RELATED TO ROYALTY

Redmayne: Went to Eton College with Prince William.

Cumberbatch: Just wrapped playing Richard III for the BBC.

CLOSE

'The Theory of Everything' introduces audiences to Stephen Hawking as they have never known him - a strapping, healthy young man, falling in love and facing what would be a life-changing diagnosis.
VPC

RABIDITY OF FANS

Redmayne: Medium. The actor has a contingent on Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram who call themselves "Redmayniacs," but Redmayne is still an actor's actor.

Cumberbatch: Off the charts. His fans call themselves a more crass form of the word "Cumberbabes," although the actor has attempted to revise the term to the more politically correct "Cumberpeople." "I'm lucky to have had (fame) later rather than when I was younger," he told USA TODAY. "I wasn't (famous) in my 20s or my 30s, and now I sort of have that weird status, which I do find very strange."

Redmayne: Redmayne is color blind, Bagshawe helps him pick out his suits.

Cumberbatch: Cumberbatch played Hawking, too, in the 2004 BBC TV movie Hawking. But there are no hard feelings between the two friends. "I turn my back for five minutes and there's somebody playing something I've already played before," Cumberbatch told USA TODAY. "You can't be possessive about people you play."

OSCAR ODDS

Redmayne: With a Screen Actors Guild Award win newly under his belt, Redmayne is surging ahead in the Oscars race. GoldDerby.com gives him 9/5 odds of taking home gold.

Cumberbatch: Cumberbatch has lost a bit of traction in the last few weeks (GoldDerby.com gives him 50/1 odds), but he could pull a late-game surprise, starting at the British Academy Film Awards (Feb. 8).